


Kiss of Life

by Wallwalker



Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: F/M, Painkillers, Serious Injuries, Unhealthy Relationships, magical healing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23257666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wallwalker/pseuds/Wallwalker
Summary: Kefka brings Terra to meet General Leo at the most inconvenient of times, as Leo is recovering from a serious injury.
Relationships: Kefka Palazzo/Terra Branford
Kudos: 7





	Kiss of Life

Doctors and nurses pass by, and you lie in a haze, too lost to say anything.

The skirmish went poorly. The Magitek troops were delayed by an ambush, and you and your men were badly outnumbered. If you had not scouted the territory before to find the most defensible positions, you would not be here; as it was you lost half your men, and you barely remember the end of the battle, when the smoking survivors of the armored troops finally arrived.

_You were severely injured, General_ , someone says; you’re too tired to remember their face. _The Magitek troops did what they could on the field, but you’re going to need to stay here until you’ve recovered._

_Are you in pain?_ Another voice, you think… you wish you could be sure.

“No,” you say, or try to say. You aren’t in pain, not really; you aren’t feeling much of anything. It’s as if you are disconnected, floating within yourself. Painkillers, you think briefly, but the thought doesn’t last for long.

They leave you alone for a while, then. The sounds of the infirmary form a fog around you, and you try to relax, losing yourself in it. You survived the battle, you tell yourself. The rest can wait until you feel like yourself again.

“Well, now.”

That voice is more familiar to you, and you crack open one eye to see Kefka’s familiar greasepaint mask sneering at you. He still wavers in front of you, but you would know his bright eyes and red lips anywhere. “General Kefka,” you manage. “The battle...?”

“Please, Leo. I take precious time out of my own schedule, neglecting my report to the Emperor to come and see how you’re doing, and you bore me first with meaningless questions about combat?” He rolls his eyes theatrically, as if he could have ever done it any other way, then starts to laugh. The timbre of it hurts your ears, although you aren’t sure why. “Ah, that’s _just_ like you!”

“You survived the ambush,” you try again, and that time you feel a twinge of pain in your gut. You grit your teeth against it, and the wave of nausea that follows it. You wonder, how badly are you injured? But trying to sit up makes the pain flare again, and so you relax.

“Oh, was there a question about that? I’d thought it would be obvious.” He held up his hand so that you could see it, letting a wisp of greenish smoke rise from it. “Yes, I suppose a few armors were destroyed, and a few troopers lost their lives… but there should never have been any doubt that I would survive!”

You cough. Something tastes wrong in your mouth, strangely wet and metallic, but not quite like blood. Maybe it’s the drugs, making you feel high. “Emperor… is he -“

“Pleased with us?” Kefka laughs even harder that time, and then he pulls away, so that you can no longer see his face. “He’s pleased enough, I suppose. Yes, they shed our blood, but we burned their flesh to dust. The trade was in our favor, was it not?”

You don’t answer. Your mind is already drifting away.

“Hmph,” you hear Kefka say again, his voice quieter this time. “You see, my firebird? You hear such shining praise of General Leo, but he has such atrocious manners!”

Terra was there? You open your eyes again, trying to catch a glimpse of her, but with no success. You so rarely see her, at least outside of an armor. You only know that Kefka guards her as jealously as he would a precious jewel, and that questioning the wisdom of their arrangement had led to a stern reprimand from the Emperor himself.

“Sir,” she says, just loud enough for you to hear over the hum, “He’s probably rude because he’s badly hurt. The doctors said we should let him rest.”

“Pah! Those self-important fools are merely unused to not being listened to.” Kefka leans back over you, and you see his eyes glitter fiercely at you. “Look at him, Terra. You see? This is what happens to those who are careless, who make deals with peasants and bandits. He believed the roads would be safe, you see?”

Terra leaned over him, her green eyes open and alive. “Yes, Sir,” she said softly, bits of her green hair falling into her face.

Kefka grinned cruelly at her. “You want to do it, don’t you?”

“No, Sir,” she says too quickly.

“Oh, Terra, don’t lie to me. You’re cleverer than that!” He shook his head, and you watch Terra’s face change, her eyes widening in fear. “But I suppose I shouldn’t be too particular here, in front of General Leo.”

You stare up at Terra, who doesn’t meet your eyes. “Thank you, Sir,” she says softly.

“Of course. And I suppose you deserve some praise for your self-control.” He laughs, crouching down next to you. “She wants to heal you, you see,” he whispers into your ear. “But I say her power’s used for better purposes, and she always, always listens to me. A clever girl, my Terra, isn’t she?”

You’re exhausted, but not blind, and the fear on her face is still clear enough. What does he do to her? “Stop, Kefka,” you manage, but you’re too tired to hold onto the anger, and your mind is starting to drift.

“Leo?” you hear him say. Then, more sternly, “I do not enjoy being ignored, General!”

“My… apologies,” you say, as coldly as you can manage.

Kefka makes a choked noise in the back of his throat. “Those damned medicines are ruining you, Leo. You need to be rid of them!” Then you feel something odd, a warm and greasy touch on your forehead, and before you can say anything you feel something wash over you, like being submerged in a warm bath. The warmth subsides, and the haze in your mind clears, replaced by searing pain. You scream in surprise as much as from the sudden agony, as everything that the drugs had held back suddenly rushed into your mind.

“Stay back!” you hear Kefka snap above you. “I have made a decision! This warrior is far too important to the Empire to sit here resting!” He laughs, then you hear him again, this time next to your ear. “For shame, Leo! What about your training, hm? Didn’t you learn how to handle your pain??”

“What are you doing!?” you ask, and you would lift your arms to grab his neck, if not for the pain that spikes even further as you make the slightest move.

“Changing my mind,” he answers as he stands, laughing. “Terra!”

“Sir?” she asks, and barely flinches as he grabs her hand and pulls her into your view, still staring at you.

“Heal him.”

You see her eyes widen again. “But... Sir, you said I should never -“

“I said I changed my mind!” he said, glaring down at you, the paint on his usually immaculate lips smeared ever-so-slightly. “This is a direct order - finish what I have started, and use your powers to heal General Leo!”

“Of course,” she answers, and leans down over you. You don’t have time to protest as her own red lips press against your forehead, just next to where Kefka’s had touched you just before. The warmth returns, but softer this time, and you feel the wounds under your dressings start to knit together and fade away.

Terra finally stands again, breathing hard as if she had lifted a heavy burden. “Sir Kefka,” she said, looking at him. “Please.”

He keeps staring at you for a moment as you try to recover, taking deep gulps of air into your lungs and tensing as you wait for the pain to return. Then he looks away from you, into her face. “Very good, Terra,” he says, and leans in to kiss her lightly. “My beautiful, clever little mage.”

Your heart still pounds, but the rest of you finally starts to relax as your body slowly realizes that the wounds are gone. The pain slowly fades away. “Kefka,” you say, gritting your teeth again. “What... madness is this?”

“Oh, sit up, Leo. You needn’t pretend to be an invalid any longer,” he says peevishly.

You sit up, feeling only the reflection of the pain that races through your nerves, and see him still cradling Terra’s face with his hands. She has eyes only for him now, smiling as if he had not just recently pushed her or snapped orders at him. It would’ve been a sweet scene in another context, but now… you find yourself growing faintly queasy at the sight of it.

“Why?” you say, though neither of them making any sign of turning to you. “I demand an explanation for this!”

“An explanation?” He giggles, finally giving you a sideways glance, and lifts one hand away from Terra’s face to wag his finger at you. “For removing the toxins in your blood that altered your judgement, and having my dear Terra heal your wounds? I should be demanding your gratitude instead, General!”

“This is insanity,” you say, pulling yourself up out of bed. You hear the doctors gasp as you stand, and you feel no pain at all - your body is whole under the dressings, you can feel it. You’d heard rumors of Terra’s power, but you’d had no inkling of this! “What do you mean to prove by -“

“Enough,” he says, taking Terra’s hand. “My patience has run out. Terra and I will be taking our leave, now.” He turns before he goes, raising an eyebrow. “Do be more careful next time, won’t you? I’d hate to think you can’t survive without me.”

It takes every ounce of your self-control not to follow him, despite the bandages that are still wrapped around your body.

You leave the infirmary a few minutes later, after the doctors and nurses have thoroughly examined you. The injuries are truly gone, they tell you, without so much as a scar. Remarkable, they say... they had not realized that magical healing could be so efficient. They will have to speak to the researchers, see if it can be put into wide use, somehow. 

There may not be any scars, but the moment you arrive back at your chambers and look in the mirror, it is plain to see that the ones who healed you have left two marks behind. Two smears of red paint rest on your forehead, one large and sloppy, the other small and neat.


End file.
